Kentchurch Court is considered to be one of the most important historic houses in England. It is also the ancestral home of the Scudamore family.
Nestling under Garway Hill in the Monnow Valley, Kentchurch Court has been in the Lucas-Scudamore family for almost 1,000 years. The current house dates to the 14th century although the family can trace its roots back further to 1058. Ralph Scudamore came over to Herefordshire from Normandy, building a castle in Ewyas Harold for Edward the Confessor in 1042.
Kentchurch Court forms part of a wider estate covering some 5,000 acres. It is first and foremost a family home, run by Jan Lucas-Scudamore and her family who are the current custodians from a long line of Scudamores that have lived in this famous house.
Whilst still a private estate, the gardens and house are now open to the public on specific days during the year. The house and grounds are available for private functions on request.
Throughout the winter, Tristan Gregory has been working in the Rhododendron Wood restoring the original water feature to provide another peaceful haven for the garden visitor.
DAY LILLY DAY 9TH JULY WITH MARK WZENICK £25
I have been growing daylilies for more than 30 years. Owning a small daylily nursery back in the hills of Western Massachusetts for ten years. I began importing daylilies to the UK 12 years ago when it became clear that together with my English wife, Marie, we would be moving our lives to the UK to be closer to her parents and when it became obvious from holiday visits to nurseries and garden centers here in the UK that the Daylily was an underappreciated perennial performer in this country. My father-in-law, an excellent gardener , tended my swelling collection of American hybrid daylilies until we moved to Shropshire seven years ago.
Daylilies are year in and year out the best selling perennial in America and I was curious as to why on this island of such passionate gardeners, they were not more popular for the few varieties I did find available here were hybrids from 30-40 years ago. I wondered if the weather conditions were not conducive to the boisterous performance for which the daylilies are famous in the US. But I have discovered that daylilies easily flourish here and can bring a vast range of colour, blooming periods, heights and shapes to enliven beloved gardens in the UK. All my daylilies are field grown at my walled garden nursery in Shropshire. For the past six years I have been giving Daylily presentations to garden groups throughout the West Midlands
Daylilies are "tough as old boots", require a minimum of maintenance and provide an arresting array of colours to choose from. They are called the "Poor Man's Orchid" and the "Perfect Perennial" in the US and have demonstrated the dependable ability to succeed in English gardens. An English friend has described me as a Daylily Missionary for I believe daylilies are long overdue to be discovered and embraced by the devoted gardeners in this country.